Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"All the transfers worked well, no problems. All the lodges made a great effort with the gluten-free food.

A safari holiday in Zambia is really first rate and I want to return as soon as possible." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 14 on a Zambia safari

"I will hold onto the memories...great trip!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We were a little cold in the mornings.
Advise the morning departures for open jeeps need jackets long sleeves knitt hats that cover the ears. And hot water bottles?" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Tanzania safari

"The whole trip was superb. No hassle, very friendly, very easy. We found Namibians to be very friendly, helpful and talkative. We would readily return to any of the sites that we stayed at. We are mainly wildlife enthusiasts, I have worked in Nature Conservation in UK and many other countries for more than 20yrs and Namibia was wonderful for the wildlife, landscapes and in the ease of travelling.

Our one issue was in booking the accommodation in that we would ideally have liked to have stayed in Etosha for more nights including Okaukuejo (maybe 1 Namutoni, 2 Halai and 3 Okaukuejo. Our initial queries directly to the camps came back saying there was no availability. The initial itinerary from Expert Africa had 1 night at Halali and on asking again we got two nights. Was the difficulty in us not trying to secure accommodation early enough in advance of our planned trip? If so how much notice is needed to book accommodation and expect to get into the Etosha Camps that we would like?

My experience of Expert Africa was very good. I felt that we were very well supported and that if there had been any difficulties we would had a lot of help. We are all experienced travelers in our group (even my 11yr old) so I think we know what to expect and are pretty independent and prepared but the assistance for Expert Africa has been very good indeed and I would readily recommend you to friends and colleagues

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just going back to my earlier query about the booking of certain camps in Etosha, some clarity on why places that had not had availability then did have and some guidance on how long in advance to plan if your main aim is to stay within the park as much as possible." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 8 on a Namibia trip

"This was our second self-drive holiday in Namibia, so we were all looking forward to the beautiful scenery, wonderful friendly welcomes, and very high standard of accommodation even in the bush, which we had enjoyed previously and we were not disappointed anywhere!
Very well organised, all meetings, border crossings etc worked.
Manageable driving distances each day (more tarmac than the West part of Namibia).

We mostly did our own drives in the reserves and did not see leopard and cheetah this time. Etosha is fantastic but it is so vast it is difficult to do it justice: you may need a lot of time to go from one waterhole to another if you arrive at a deserted one.

Some slightly odd details: e.g. suggesting laundry possible at Mundulea (it isn't), note Ndhovu runs on Botswana time." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 11 on a Namibia trip

"We decided in March this year to try and go to Tanzania in July to see the migration - Expert Africa was able to make this happen at relatively short notice. The service both on the ground and by Expert Africa was efficient, professional and of a high standard

Seeing the migration and several river crossing exceeded our expectations - we had a wonderful two weeks!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"The trip as a whole was perfectly organized. There are two reasons as to why we don´t deem it very satisfactory.

The first is that our guide at Kicheche Bush Camp talked us out of doing the whole day trip to the Mara reserve to see a Mara river crossing, which was something we had planned to do and were really looking forward to. He brought up a whole bunch of counter arguments, all of which later proved to be false. Among other things, he told us that the guides from KBC never do whole day trips to the reserve that time of the year, only from August on. However, on the day we left, on 11 July, two vehicles from KBC did exactly that, to see a Mara crossing.

The second reason is that we had requested guide Nelson Kasoe, in writing, to Richard Trillo, but in KBC they knew of no request in our name. This also was a huge disappointment, especially since another couple that arrived on the same day as us, got Nelson, without having requested so. We were also disappointed with the guide we got instead." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 12 on a Kenya safari

"Tracy helped us put together a wonderful trip which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Her advice was invaluable, particularly for journey lengths and camp/lodge choices. This is the second trip she has arranged for us and was as enjoyable as the first.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

We cannot think of anything that could have been done better - all arrangements worked perfectly" Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"A wonderful trip! It was interesting to combine Tanzania and Zambia for the variety of wildlife sightings and changes in landscapes.

Many thanks to Claire Scott (EA) for organising it all, and especially for recommending Kigelia in Ruaha, it is an amazing place! Glad I visited Selous before Ruaha as it only got better! Chongwe River Camp in Lower Zambezi still remains my favourite camp. The team from Tours Africa in Lusaka airport also deserves a mention for being so helpful at arrivals and during transfers.

This trip was a fantastic experience from start to finish!

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not sure you could raise standards any higher!

Third time I have used EA and have never been disappointed. Already looking forward to booking my next trip with your team in the future." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 10 on a Tanzania safari

"Having enjoyed wildlife-oriented safaris in both Southern and Eastern Africa, we wanted to focus our adventures in Namibia on that country's breathtaking scenery.

Expert Africa personnel (first Martha Young and Chris McIntyre; and later Tracy Lederer) did a superb job organising our three-lodge itinerary . . . Little Kulala; Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp; and Serra Cafema. Namibian lodges do not offer over-the-top luxuries (unlike high-end camps in Botswana, South Africa, et al), but we were totally pleased with our accommodations at all three lodges.

Hospitality was uniformly top-notch, and all 18 meals we consumed at the lodges were imaginatively prepared and delicious. Wilderness Safaris, the local operator responsible for our travel arrangements in Namibia, offered seamless service, from the moment our plane landed in Windhoek to our departure to Johannesburg ten days later.

Likewise, we thoroughly enjoyed the Rwandan segment of our holiday. Our only complaint (a minor one) is Virunga Lodge's kitchen, whose offerings were mediocre at best. Every other aspect of our Virunga Lodge stay was entirely satisfactory.

Our local guide/driver did an excellent job "negotiating" gorilla treks that matched our physical limitations. With his help, we were assigned easier families to visit and, thus, completed both our treks around three hours. We were not displeased with our, but we did notice slightly newer and seemingly more comfortable vehicles offered by other companies.

Don't know the differential between their rates and the other companies' but, given the long drive from Kigali to the Volcanoes area and, in particular, the bone-jarring ride to Virunga Lodge, we might have been tempted with a more comfortable option." Read full review: 13 nights in Africa; 9 on a Namibia trip

"Overall, just what we wanted. It would have been nice to see more of the big 5 but my wife saw lots of giraffes and they are her favourite so its ok!

If you are looking to guarantee seeing all the big 5 (especially lions and rhino) then I guess there are better places to go. But if like us, you are looking for the whole authentic experience without hardly seeing another vehicle then this could be for you. Some very magical moments along the way.

The tree house whole experience was very special. Seeing so many animals together by the shores of Lake Manzi, seeing hippos run, meeting two by our path on the way to bed, turning the engine off and just watching troupes of baboons etc play, and so on. The giraffes in huge numbers. Too many things to mention.

Brilliant." Read full review: 10 nights in Africa; 6 on a Tanzania safari